***OFFICIAL Misc 2024 52 books in 52 weeks thread***

[PumkinPie]

Spoiler!

1. The Day of the Barbarians: The Battle That Led to the Fall of the Roman Empire

2. The Great Gatsby

Never read or watched the movie, figured I give it a shot

[TappingTheZen]

Spoiler!

1. The Iliad by Homer

2. The Odyssey by Homer

I really liked this. But it was a little jarring how unbothered the characters are about slavery. Ulysses’s pig farmer explained how he was sold to him. When he was a child his mother was seduced by a pirate and she suggested they sell her son. Crazy. Was also a little surprised by the killing of the disloyal female servants. But still a good story with a happy ending.

I enjoyed the Odyssey more than the Iliad, i think. I got quite a few laughs out of the cyclops screaming 'nobody is attacking me'

Although if slavery is jarring to you, i'd suggest not reading further classical texts lol. It was somewhat of a necessity in a world without technology, where scarcity is a real problem and might is right. They just operated under a completely different paradigm to now.

Also, Homer would shudder if he saw you using the Latinized version of Odysseus's name

If you enjoyed these works by Homer, i'd recommend "Robin Lane Fox - Homer and his Illiad", he delves very deep into the composition, morality, meaning etc of the Illiad. It's a great (but long) work.

[naaboo]

INNNNN like a decade old sentence


Where you brahs buying your books?

[theory816]

Philip K Dick. Four Novels of the 1960s

The Man in the high castle - read 1/4. Lost interest
The Three Stigmata of Pal Eldrich - read 1/4. Lost interest
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Finished. One of my favorite books. I might not recommend for everyone else since some parts of the story appeals more to me personally. The book isn't that all but I like the overall story. The book is about 200pages so it may be worth the read for the novelty.
Ubik. Read 1/10. Lost interest

Read the other books by PKD because of Androids. They were very disappointing reads.

[MrQuint]

Update - Finished the autobiography of Samuel Hildebrand. Interesting read about a rebel bushwhacker in Missouri during the Civil War.

Spoiler!

1 The Voyageur by Grace Lee Nute
2 Autobiography of Samuel Hildebrand

[cheerupemokid]

I enjoyed the Odyssey more than the Iliad, i think. I got quite a few laughs out of the cyclops screaming 'nobody is attacking me'

Although if slavery is jarring to you, i'd suggest not reading further classical texts lol. It was somewhat of a necessity in a world without technology, where scarcity is a real problem and might is right. They just operated under a completely different paradigm to now.

Also, Homer would shudder if he saw you using the Latinized version of Odysseus's name

If you enjoyed these works by Homer, i'd recommend "Robin Lane Fox - Homer and his Illiad", he delves very deep into the composition, morality, meaning etc of the Illiad. It's a great (but long) work.

Ha, it wasn’t the slavery but the reaction to it. When you read the writings of Americans from the slavery era there tended by some conflicting feelings from slave owners like Thomas Jefferson. But in this book his mom was like, “we can sell my son for some quick cash.” Just kind of a crazy view from our perspective today.

Thanks for the book recommendation, I’ll look into it.

[DisciplineWorks]

1. Meditations - Marcus Aurelius (Audio)

[TappingTheZen]

Finished:
Cicero - Selected Political Speeches - 4.5/5 - Enjoyed these a lot, the speeches were: defending Archias, defending Caelius Rufus, defending Milo, the first Phillipic and defending Marcellus

Stephen Dando-Collins - Caligula - 3/5 - Wanted to give this more, it was a decent book overall, but it was extremely disappointing to see a full on chapter full of hateful trump rhetoric comparing him to Caligula (really). It just has no place in a serious Roman history book, and the author made no effort to be balanced in his analysis either, it was just an entire chapter in a Roman history book dedicated to a Trump character assassination. Evidently Trump has triggered him, which is fine everyone is entitled to his view, but does it really need to seep into his academic work?

Audley Anselm - Plato and the Tyrant - 3.5/5 - This was a pretty interesting narrative of Plato's time in Syracuse during Dionysius II's reign, going into the Syracuse 'civil war' led by Dion. It was quite short though

Eck Werner - The age of Augustus - 4/5 - This was a quick, and dense analysis of Augustuses reign. Really enjoyed it, was a good memory jogger and it focuses on the critical aspects of his reign.

Currenly Reading:
Stephen Dando-Collins - Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome - Hopefully there isn't any unhinged rants in this towards modern politicans like in Caligula, but we'll see lol

Mikhail Bulgakov - The Master and the Margarita - Heard a lot about this and i've been wanting to read it for a while.

Spoiler!

1. Robert Harris - Lustrum
2. Christian Meier - Julius Caesar
3. Robert Harris - Dictator
4. Ovid - Ars Amatoria
5. Cicero - Selected Political Speeches
6. Stephen Dando-Collins - Caligula
7. Audley Anselm - Plato & The Tyrant
8. Eck Werner - The Age of Augustus
9. Stephen Dando-Collins - Caesar's Legion (In progress)
10. Mikhail Bulgakov - The Master and the Margarit (In progress)

[Polaris]

4 books down in 2024

Finished since last posting -
Christian Meier - Julius Caesar - 5/5 - by far the best biography on Caesar i've read... extremely in depth and takes many pains to examine the situation in Rome with Sulla etc that made Caesar possible, and dives deeply into Caesars psychology
Robert Harris - Dictator - 5/5 - Finished Robert harrises series now. Wow, amazing hoenstly. Anyone interested in Rome should read the cicero (Imperium) series by Robert Harris.
Ovid - Ars Amatoria - 3.5/5 - A tongue n cheek guide on how to smash women and get away with cheating, by a Roman degenerate poet during Augustus's reign. A lot of fun and gives a solid insight into the feeling of the time.

Started:
Cicero - Political speeches
Stephen Dando-Collins - Caligula

Spoiler!

1. Robert Harris - Lustrum
2. Christian Meier - Julius Caesar
3. Robert Harris - Dictator
4. Ovid - Ars Amatoria
5. Cicero - Selected Political Speeches (in progress)
6. Stephen Dando-Collins - Caligula (in progress)

Have you read Adrian Goldsworthy's Caesar? If so, how does it compare to Meier's?

[TappingTheZen]

Have you read Adrian Goldsworthy's Caesar? If so, how does it compare to Meier's?

Yeah i have; it's a great biography of Caesar, the 2nd best i've read, but i'm gonna be honest Meiers is much better. It goes into much greater depth into the Republic, its problems, the paradigm of the time and also delves deep into what Caesar 'means' and the psychology of Caesar, and what he represents in history etc. It's a much more scholarly and in depth biography. It also goes deep into the conditions prior to Caesar that led to him, such as the Marian/Sulla civil war, the Gracchi etc which are quite important in understanding Caesars role in the Republic, which Goldsworthy doesn't really talk about.

Goldsworthy is one of my favourite Roman history writers though, i especially enjoyed Augustus.

[MrQuint]

We're pretty much snowed in here and when I'm not clearing the driveway I've been renovating a bathroom but there is still some downtime to read. Completed Lost in the Wild: Danger and Survival in the North Woods. This was a pretty quick read but something about the stories hit close to home. The book follows 2 scenarios of people getting lost in the BWCA/Quetico region and in both situations though I don't think I would make the same decisions the lost individuals made, you can see some logic in their choices and how easily and quickly things can go wrong.

Spoiler!

1 The Voyageur by Grace Lee Nute
2 Autobiography of Samuel Hildebrand
3 Lost in the Wild: Danger and Survival in the North Woods by Cary J. Griffith

[cheerupemokid]

Spoiler!

1. The Iliad by Homer
2. The Odyssey by Homer

3. Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche

I’d read this like 20+ years ago as a part of a collection of his writings. I definitely appreciate this more now. His commentary on Schopenhauer and Hegel made a lot more sense now that I’ve not only heard of them but read some of their work. Also, I didn’t remember how redpilled he was on women and the stupidity of feminism. My biggest takeaway though was how I actually found his bluntness and being so uncouth was actually pretty funny. “Perhaps, the mediocre minds of the British might be more suited to this” when he’s mentioning Darwin and the study of evolution. There were a couple of other times I laughed out loud too. As a Christian, I don’t agree with his slave morality but I think there are some valid observations regarding behavior of different classes and “noble souls.” Overall, this was interesting and worth revisiting.

[jreacher]

I've finished two books and am on book three for the year:

1 - The Edge (6:20 Man #2), David Baldacci, 4/5
2 - Dark Site (Sam Dryden #3), Patrick Lee, 5/5

Currently reading:
3 - The Broken Room, Peter Clines

Patrick Lee hasn't written a ton of books, but I've enjoyed all of them. I think Dark Site is the best book I've read in years. It's technically part of a series, but you can read each one as a standalone. His other series that starts with The Breach were the first books I read by him and I'd highly recommend them also.

Lee likes to genre-bend a bit, and his Breach series was a sci-fi thriller combo. Very Outer Limits/Twilight Zone feel to them.

Dark Site was more of a straight up thriller with some technological elements that wouldn't really put it in sci-fi territory, but it still had that strange town feel from things like The Twilight Zone and other books I've enjoyed such as the Wayward Pines series by Blake Crouch.

Dark Site alternates the chapters by jumping from the main character's past to the present, but it's really well done. The past elements brought so much nostalgia and those first love feels that it almost feels like a part coming-of-age story. I was blown away by this book and highly recommend it to my fellow thriller lovers.

[Legz422]

1. Gone (6th in Michael Bennett series) by James Patterson
2. Burn (7th Michael Bennett) by James Patterson
3. Alert (8th Michael Bennett) by James Patterson
4. Chase: A Bookshot (Michael Bennett) by James Patterson
5. Bullseye (9th Michael Bennett) by James Patterson
6. Manhunt: A Bookshhot (Michael Bennett) by James Patterson
7. Haunted (10th Michael Bennett) by James Patterson
8. Ambush (11th Michael Bennett) by James Patterson- reading now

[xxAchillesxx]

I've finished two books and am on book three for the year:

1 - The Edge (6:20 Man #2), David Baldacci, 4/5
2 - Dark Site (Sam Dryden #3), Patrick Lee, 5/5

Currently reading:
3 - The Broken Room, Peter Clines

Patrick Lee hasn't written a ton of books, but I've enjoyed all of them. I think Dark Site is the best book I've read in years. It's technically part of a series, but you can read each one as a standalone. His other series that starts with The Breach were the first books I read by him and I'd highly recommend them also.

Lee likes to genre-bend a bit, and his Breach series was a sci-fi thriller combo. Very Outer Limits/Twilight Zone feel to them.

Dark Site was more of a straight up thriller with some technological elements that wouldn't really put it in sci-fi territory, but it still had that strange town feel from things like The Twilight Zone and other books I've enjoyed such as the Wayward Pines series by Blake Crouch.

Dark Site alternates the chapters by jumping from the main character's past to the present, but it's really well done. The past elements brought so much nostalgia and those first love feels that it almost feels like a part coming-of-age story. I was blown away by this book and highly recommend it to my fellow thriller lovers.

Fuk man, nice. Gonna put Dark Site on my short list

[ForeverFappin]

In for 2024. Last year i managed to read 21 books. The goal is 25 this year

Slow start to the year but currently reading through Elons new biography

[MrQuint]

I found Geronimo's story really interesting and there is this interesting dynamic where this was written with the approval of the president and there are sections where Geronimo is criticizing the president or assorted military officers and they had to footnote that these were Geronimo's words and not S.M. Barrett's and that the US Govt did not necessarily agree with what was being written.

Spoiler!

1 The Voyageur by Grace Lee Nute
2 Autobiography of Samuel Hildebrand
3 Lost in the Wild: Danger and Survival in the North Woods by Cary J. Griffith
4 White Devil: A True Story of War, Savagery and Vengeance in Colonial America by Stephen Brumwell
5 Geronimo's Story of His Life by Geronimo and S.M. Barrett

[theory816]

Checked out 3 books yesterday. Read a few pages through all 3 and returned all 3.

It was funny because I didn't know young adult books read differently from the adult fiction books. And then the thicker fictional books, some of them just seemed to blabber on and on.

[Allenlverson]

Checked out 3 books yesterday. Read a few pages through all 3 and returned all 3.

It was funny because I didn't know young adult books read differently from the adult fiction books. And then the thicker fictional books, some of them just seemed to blabber on and on.

zzz inducing

how many pages did you read out of the 1000 pages you set as a goal yesterday? i can rarely read more than 20 if the book is interesting

[Woody-5]

In for 2024!

I'm not aiming for 52 again this year (hit 65 last year), but I'm definitely going to continue reading. Doing this challenge last year really made reading a daily habit which is what I wanted.

1. The Stand by Stephen King (uncut) holy 1150+ pages. This was a monster but it's been on my list for awhile. I really enjoyed it, and I was surprised at how well the TV mini series from the 90s followed the book. The fact that I watched that a long time ago took away from the book slightly as I knew what was going to happen, but it was still an excellent read.

[theory816]

zzz inducing

how many pages did you read out of the 1000 pages you set as a goal yesterday? i can rarely read more than 20 if the book is interesting

Close to 300 lol

[Payton1221]

I just finished Without Fail (Jack Reacher #6). I was entertained throughout the whole book, but when I got to the end of it, the plot wasn't complicated at all. Not that it has to be complicated and I've complained before that some books are TOO COMPLICATED. This was a reread for me, and maybe I'm just having to get back into the Lee Child way of writing. I'm currently rereading Nothing To Lose (Jack Reacher #12), and I am again being entertained from page 1 to where I am now (~page 200).

[xxAchillesxx]

I just finished Without Fail (Jack Reacher #6). I was entertained throughout the whole book, but when I got to the end of it, the plot wasn't complicated at all. Not that it has to be complicated and I've complained before that some books are TOO COMPLICATED. This was a reread for me, and maybe I'm just having to get back into the Lee Child way of writing. I'm currently rereading Nothing To Lose (Jack Reacher #12), and I am again being entertained from page 1 to where I am now (~page 200).

Yea the Reacher books usually aren't super complicated or thought provoking (although some have some pretty cool twists and turns). But overall they're designed more like "along for the ride", like you say.

[Payton1221]

Yea the Reacher books usually aren't super complicated or thought provoking (although some have some pretty cool twists and turns). But overall they're designed more like "along for the ride", like you say.

Agreed. And a big part of the plot is always disguised for the majority of the book. The book that I just finished involved a small "team" (very small team) intent on assassinating the Vice President Elect. It's only when you're about 80-85% finished with the book is it revealed what their motivation was (and their motivation was much less significant than one would think necessary to embark on such an act).

The Reacher book I'm reading now, Nothing To Lose, has Reacher passing through a "company town" (i.e., everything is owned by this one company) where they want to keep strangers out. There's a huge recycling facility the size of 400 football fields and there are legitimate, active military personnel guarding the area with a small plane that makes one flight each and every night: exits @ 1:00 am, returns @ 5:00 am. I'm nearly 1/2 way through and I have no idea what is really going on but it'll be revealed later ;-) (this is a reread too and I can't recall what happened).

[cheerupemokid]

Agreed. And a big part of the plot is always disguised for the majority of the book. The book that I just finished involved a small "team" (very small team) intent on assassinating the Vice President Elect. It's only when you're about 80-85% finished with the book is it revealed what their motivation was (and their motivation was much less significant than one would think necessary to embark on such an act).

The Reacher book I'm reading now, Nothing To Lose, has Reacher passing through a "company town" (i.e., everything is owned by this one company) where they want to keep strangers out. There's a huge recycling facility the size of 400 football fields and there are legitimate, active military personnel guarding the area with a small plane that makes one flight each and every night: exits @ 1:00 am, returns @ 5:00 am. I'm nearly 1/2 way through and I have no idea what is really going on but it'll be revealed later ;-) (this is a reread too and I can't recall what happened).

That kind of sounds like what season 1 of the Amazon show was based on.

[sl_17b]

1. Sebastien De Castell – The Malevolent Seven 4/5
2. Christian Cameron – A Killer of Men 4.5/5
3. RW Krpoun – Memory Road 3.5/5

The Malevolent Seven was pretty good and is about a group of sorcerers/magicians who are relatively bad characters. They have no problems killing bad or each other if the need arises.

A Killer of Men was very good and reminds me of the Troy - Lord of the Silver Bow series by David Gemmell. Historical fiction of the early Greeks that is very well told with some good character development.

Memory Road is a zombie tale. The main character wakes up with memory loss and finds out there are zombies and terrorists over running the US. The MC pieces together that he was a former Army Infantryman who suffered a brain injury that lead to part of memory problems.

[TappingTheZen]

Finished:
Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master & The Margarita - 5/5 - This was a really, really good book that i honestly still need to take time to reflect upon. It's hard to describe really, but the general plot is Satan arrives in what appears to be Stalins Russia, and lots of things happen, with a seperate story running alongside regarding the Crucification of Jesus & Potious Pilate. These stories merge together later on in the novel, and it seems to be attacking Stalins regime in many ways, and also has a lot of thoughtful passages about the dichotemy of Good/Evil and how perhaps it's not as clear cut as we (and i suppose especially soviet russia) act as if it is.

Stephen Dando Collins: Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome - 3.5/5 - This was a decent book, but for people who know about Caesars campaigns, there's not that much new here. Majority of the book is Caesars campaigns with the 10th legion starting in Spain when the legion were raised and their battles on the Iberian peninsula, through the gallic wars, civil wars, then it continues up until Actium where the legion fight under Mark Anthony. The last (perhaps 1/4 - 1/5) of the book is a bit more interesting, and discusses the 10th legions time in Syria, it's reenlistment, and the part it played in the Jewish wars under the command of Titus Flavius, finishing with the Siege of Masada.

Next:
Thomas Lin - Alice and Bob Meet the Wall of Fire: The Biggest Ideas in Science from Quanta
Gareth C Sampson - Rome's Great Eastern War: Lucullus, Pompey and the Conquest of the East, 74–62 BC

Spoiler!

1. Robert Harris - Lustrum
2. Christian Meier - Julius Caesar
3. Robert Harris - Dictator
4. Ovid - Ars Amatoria
5. Cicero - Selected Political Speeches
6. Stephen Dando-Collins - Caligula
7. Audley Anselm - Plato & The Tyrant
8. Eck Werner - The Age of Augustus
9. Stephen Dando-Collins - Caesar's Legion
10. Mikhail Bulgakov - The Master and the Margarit
11. Thomas Lin - Alice and Bob Meet the Wall of Fire: The Biggest Ideas in Science from Quanta (in progress)
12. Gareth C. Sampson - Rome's Great Eastern War: Lucullus, Pompey and the Conquest of the East (in progress)

[87dman]

In for 2024. Last year did 72 books.

Currently reading The Greatness Mindset by Lewis Howes

[sl_17b]

1. Sebastien De Castell – The Malevolent Seven 4/5
2. Christian Cameron – A Killer of Men 4.5/5
3. RW Krpoun – Memory Road 3.5/5
4. Robert Jackson Bennett – Foundryside 4/5

Foundryside was recommended in one of these threads. It has an interesting world that reminds me of a steampunk setting with all the mechanical devices used. But the principle behind these devices is somewhat scientific/somewhat magical.

[jreacher]

Foundryside was recommended in one of these threads. It has an interesting world that reminds me of a steampunk setting with all the mechanical devices used. But the principle behind these devices is somewhat scientific/somewhat magical.

That's the first in a trilogy. Are you going to read the other books?

I just looked it up on Amazon and I think I'm going to put it on my to-read list.